Clerks issue marriage licenses and said they must follow the law strictly. But what is the law? Defying what's been believed for years, the Santa Fe County attorney announced Tuesday he finds gay marriage legal under current New Mexico law. The city council is expected to pass a resolution urging county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.

"Calling on the clerks to take a side on what is clearly a gray issue and to act in a different manner than we've been acting for the last nine years, I think it's an unfair position to put us in," explained Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver. "Our hands are tied."

That's why Rep. Bill McCamley, (D) Dona Ana County, wrote a letter to the attorney general officially asking him to analyze the law and create an opinion. Clerks said if the attorney general makes is perfectly clear what the law states, they'll know what to do.

The last time an official opinion was heard was in 2004 when the Sandoval County clerk tried issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. The attorney general at the time stopped that, saying it was illegal.

A spokesman for Attorney General Gary King's office says there's no saying how long it would take to create an opinion, but considering this issue is so critical, they will work efficiently.